No safe time, amount, or alcohol during pregnancy

Once again we have arrived - safely, I hope- at this wondrous season of hope and renewal; this season so filled with preparing:

Preparing our homes and our offices and our schedules;

Preparing to visit, to attend, to host;

Preparing to share and reminisce, to laugh and to sing…

As we wade through our multitude of preparations, let each of us pause for a moment to remember a loved one, a friend, a co-worker, a student, a client, a patient, a parishioner, a neighbor who is preparing in a different way- preparing for the arrival of an unborn child. Renewal of a whole different order, as a mother-to-be awaits the arrival of a precious son or daughter.Many things about this momentous event are altogether unpredictable, but there is one choice that is completely within our control - the choice not to drink alcohol while pregnant. Not an easy choice, particularly during this time of seemingly endless merrymaking - but a choice that can impact and alter the remainder of a newmom's life - and certainly the life of her unborn child.

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is a set of mental, physical and neurobehavioral birth defects that are the direct result of alcohol use during pregnancy, and FASD is the leading known preventable cause of mental retardation and birth defects. Sadly, many pregnant women and their parents - and even the healthcare professionals who advise them - remain unaware of/or indifferent to the risks of consuming alcohol.

Let us prepare together for a new year that delivers healthy infants to the new moms in our lives.With each gathering that you attend or host, please keep inmind and pass along that there is no safe time, no safe amount, and no safe alcohol during pregnancy, and try serving a refreshing, nonalcoholic beverage alternatives.

Patti Lucarelli, R.N., CPNP

Chair

Prevention committee The Arc of New Jersey

North Brunswick